After winning great laurels at the recently concluded CES 2017, BlackBerry phones are now slated to be launched globally. However, the Chinese phone manufacturer TCL, who is now licensed to manufacture BlackBerry phones, has confirmed that BlackBerry’s upcoming Mercury smartphone will not be released in India Since BlackBerry has licensing arrangements with multiple companies including one in Indonesia and another in India, there is a possibility that the upcoming offerings from BlackBerry will still reach these countries via another manufacturer. In a blog post, BlackBerry has also stated it is seeking more licensing partners to launch BlackBerry Mercury and other upcoming smartphones in other parts of the globe.

BlackBerry phones – geographical limitations for TCL

TCL’s licensing arrangement with BlackBerry has geographical limitations, and restricts the company, from operating in Indonesia, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Remember, however, that these are also the biggest markets for BlackBerry phones.

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John Chen, the CEO of BlackBerry is also quoted as saying that BB now has multiple parties for creation and distribution of its phones apart from local partners who will compete in local markets. BB already has a tie up in Indonesia with BBMerah Putih and it is expected that they could be launching soon.

More licensing partners expected

Ralph Pini, COO and GM at BlackBerry stated that the company is now beginning to gain significant momentum with the licensing strategy. He added that BB would continue looking for more licensing partners to launch Mercury and other upcoming smartphones in the global markets.

However, effectively, the licensing arrangement with TCL prevents it from operating in certain territories. BlackBerry cannot ignore India or Indonesia, particularly because those are two if BB’s biggest markets. Going ahead, therefore, we can expect to see local manufacturers launching BlackBerry phones that are in the pipeline presently.

BlackBerry Mercury manufactured by TCL is now expected to be unveiled at the MWC 2017 in February. A glimpse of this device was presented at the CES 2017 attracting rave reviews from nearly every participant.

Comments

No OS10 – no BlackBerry.
Android isn’t the smart in BlackBerry – an updated Android runtime would be!

ELLAS

I would have to agree. Plain stock Android is old, outdated, slow and cumbersome. BB10 is the future, smooth, fast flowing, highly intuitive and quite intelligent. No matter what they do to Android, it will never be better than BB10. Simply not possible.

Ron

Most of the world doen’t want OS10, unfortunately. As Chen and others have learned, purists don’t survive in business. Businesses must go where customer demand takes them.